Wednesday, December 23, 2009

P.S.

Today on the bus I sat right next to the heater and it was one of the loveliest bus rides yet. I almost didn't get off. :)

Bookshelves

I came across a collection of pictures of books and bookshelves by book lovers never go to bed alone. It made me very excited to have lots of bookshelves filled with books in my home someday. For now my bookshelf consists of stacks of books underneath my bed, but I did finally find interesting bookends at Unique the other day and my book displays will start soon. Maybe in 2010? Which is NEXT WEEK. My how time flies.

In the meantime, while I do laundry and clean up my clothes (which have EXPLODED all over my room since my roommate is gone) and pack, enjoy these favorites from my initial browse of the book lovers blog...






via The Casual Optimist

Monday, December 21, 2009

I love my new camera!

I sold my big camera and bought a cute little one which I am SO excited to take pictures with! Look how cute it is...


Here are some pictures I took just last night...


Saturday, December 19, 2009

Anniversary!



Here's to one year of love. :)

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Retrospective...


This was Pantone's color of the year last year... I love this color! But that might be obvious from my rainboots... or my favorite yellow flats... or, or, or...

Moment Jars


This Moment Jars site is really neat. (It sort of hits my love for projects like Post Secret.) The premise is that you save a moment by writing it down and putting it in a glass jar. The site displays people's 'moments' and you can even add your own. Cool. (I'm so sentimental...)

via swiss miss

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Plant Allometry

Working for a university press can mean you work on some strange books. Books that seem outlandish. Books that seem like they'd have an audience of none (or three). Books where you wonder how in the world they could do enough research to write a whole volume. And often I find myself picking up my next project and thinking, "What the heck? Plant Allometry?"

Yes, today I did come across that title. I had no idea what allometry even meant, so I looked it up. I thought maybe I would even appreciate the book more after learning what it was about. I wouldn't just think, "Pshh, some boring biology book..."



So yes, I still think it's some boring biology book. Sigh. Good thing I like art.

(thanks dictionary.com)

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

It's a boy!


Beluga mommy Puiji gave birth to a 162 pound baby boy today at the Shedd Aquarium. BABY BELUGA! He's pretty cute.

photo and information from an article in the Chicago Tribune.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Sunday, December 13, 2009

I'm Yours

This is waaay too cute.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Friday!

fridayfridayfridayfridayfridayfridayfriday!!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

I win!



I won a gift card to a paper/print store by commenting on the How design blog! Yayy!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Minion.

Ooooh no.




An excerpt from a Chicago Tribune article on today's weather. Arrgh.

The Eddie Aikau

Yesterday was an historic day in Hawaii Nei. Actually in the world. Every year the surf swells on the North Shore and every year should conditions be met, the Eddie Aikau big wave surf contest is held at Waimea Bay. "Conditions" though, are very difficult to meet. The waves must be in the 40 foot range all day. Only eight times in its 25 year history has the contest been held. So yesterday, in the year of its 25th anniversary, Waimea Bay boasted 35-50 foot waves and 20,000+ spectators while surfers caught some of the biggest waves in the world. Californian Greg Long capped his contest win with a perfect score, surfing a wave of 50 feet. The photos are evidence of just how epic a day this was.

Check out the full article on The Honolulu Advertiser for more details. All photos are from there.




Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Tiniest Apartment Ever.

Check out this article in the New York Post. This couple, with their two cats, lives in a 175 square foot apartment in Manhattan. Can you imagine? The article is really interesting, especially where they describe their habits which allow them to live so small. While I wouldn't be able to live in it, it's interesting to think about getting rid of the excess stuff I don't really need.

In any event, that 175 square feet of air cost $150,000.

Color of the Year


Pantone named Turquoise the color of the year for 2010. I love turquoise! It's definitely in my top three.

via How

Monday, December 7, 2009

Clocks & Such.


Check out these clocks by Fluid Forms. You can enter a zip code and they will create a clock based on the streets and landmarks of your neighborhood/town/city. Cool huh?

I found this on the Incredible Things blog, which I just discovered today, which is pretty cool. So you should check it out, too.

Reasons to like Monday

As much as I don't look forward to Monday, here are my reasons to talk myself into waking up anyway:

1. New episodes of my favorite podcast, This American Life.
2. Catching up on the news / emails.
3. Picking out something to wear. (This can also go on the reasons Mondays are terrible list. It just depends on how easy it is to accomplish.)
4. Monday evenings are usually very relaxing. Therefore, Monday morning = relaxing night is coming.

How's that for some positivity and optimism?
Monday Monday Monday.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Thursday, December 3, 2009

This one's pretty.


via Casual Optimist

I Shot the Serif


via The Donut Project

Love this.


A Penguin Classic designed by Coralie Bickford Smith. My favorite from an impeccably designed series.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Judge a Book by its Cover

Amazon is hosting the Best Book Covers of 2009 contest. Unfortunately I didn't see any from our press, but there are still some great ones up there. Check it out and vote for your favorites.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

I want to do this.

via The Moment

On a lighter note: I'm a reteller

"If a friend is someone who laughs at our stories, then a good friend is one who enjoys them even the second time around."

This New York Times article talks about studies that show people often remember where they heard something but not to whom they told it. Hence the retelling. Hence the need for good friends.

Apparently I'm not the only one who can't remember to whom I told a story. I'm so relieved. Also, note that a good friend will enjoy my stories a second time around... hint hint.

Why?

Why? Why is the world so messed up? It's frustrating to read articles like this one from the New York Times. We think that we've come a long way from our racist past with slavery (which we have), but it's still hard to get a job merely because of your skin color. Sometimes, the world sucks. I wish I could fix it.